“Everyone’s finally picking sides,” Aron said as he read a report on the current happenings around the world. He knew that, soon, the “big” countries would begin negotiations on how they would divide the planet between them and exploit the resources in their territories for their own gain and, coincidentally, the formation of their individual forces.“So why aren’t you making an announcement of your own space force? Wouldn’t that increase your citizens’ morale and pride?” Rina asked. She had already laid her eyes on some of the ongoing research projects in Lab City, as well as their mature discoveries, and she knew that nobody on Earth could catch up to Aron in terms of technology. Not in a decade, and likely not ever.“There’s no need to make it known to the world right now. In the peoples’ minds, we already have a very well-established and advanced space research institute. The moment we discovered aliens, and our discovery was backed up by other, ‘more advanced’ nations, that much
On September 17th, 2017, North Korea publicly detonated a hydrogen bomb as a weapons test. Given the general uselessness of radiation in space, as well as the lack of heat transfer, the general consensus was that space combat vessels would be armed with hydrogen warheads instead of regular fission warheads. While humanity, as far as they were aware, hadn’t yet mastered controlled nuclear fusion, the uncontrolled variety was much easier and plenty destructive enough to be used as a weapon against aliens.Two days later, while the “civilized” governments were busy threatening more sanctions against North Korea, they launched a ballistic missile that passed over Hokkaido, causing alarms to ring out in every country that had missile launch detection programs and nearly instigating a full-blown nuclear war. If it weren’t for the incoming aliens, humanity likely would have self-immolated that day; especially since the ballistic missile test came only days after a public hydrogen warhead tes
“The clowns are getting really bold,” Aron said, reading his weekly report.{They’re becoming variables that might disrupt our plan, sir. Are you going to stop them?} Nova asked.“I really should, since there’s a chance they might start a war before we’re ready for it,” Aron said. The missions he had ongoing hadn’t been completed yet, and he would need them to be in order to set the stage for the fight for dominance among humankind.{But do you think they’ll listen to us?}“They’ve already distanced themselves from the Chinese, thanks to our trade with them. And since it’s highly unlikely that China will accept North Korea’s return, at least not without paying a price for their so-called ‘betrayal’, it’s also highly likely that they would listen to us instead. They’ve already pressed a thumb on the scales in the wrong direction and seem to have not thought about the situation the entire world is in,” Aron mused as he came up with possible ideas on how to deal with the situation in Nor
A week prior to Alexander’s diplomatic mission to Taiwan and North Korea, which hadn’t been cancelled despite the two-week-long trade interdiction of the latter, China increased the frequency of their incursions into Taiwan airspace. They were sending more than fifty jets per day on “routine patrols over Chinese Taipei”, rapidly increasing the already-existing tension between the two countries.Those watching from the sidelines rightfully guessed that the intentions behind the constant and increasing provocations were to destabilize the situation to the point that Alexander would be forced to reconsider his upcoming diplomatic visit.But contrary to everyone’s expectations, the Edenian presidential office remained silent on the issue, implying that no changes to President Romero’s schedule were being considered. Instead, their actions proved that the mission was still very much going to happen as the ARES logistical department began operating at full swing. Never-before-seen military
A few days later, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean.An enormous jet was flying through the sky, high above the clouds. Everything seemed peaceful as the ponderous aircraft made its way forward at a decent speed..Aron’s specially modified A380, which had been repurposed for use by the President of Eden, looked dignified and regal as it passed over the ocean, headed to the Republic of China, more commonly known as Taiwan, where its passengers were headed for meetings with the recently elected President Tsai Ing-wen, who would be meeting with President Romero, and the co-chairmen of TSMC, Drs. Mark Liu and CC Wei, whom Sarah was scheduled to meet.The same could not be said, however, for the squadron of fighter jets flying in close formation around it. They were also beautiful, in their own way, but it was much the same as one would look at a tiger, or a shark, and admire the animal’s appearance.“He really went all out,” Alexander mused as he looked out of the window in his office and
Thanks to the early interception of the Chinese J-20s, the presidential jet’s trip was smooth. They hadn’t faced any further interference during the last 45 minutes or so of their approach and landing. Once Eden One had landed, the fighter escort refueled and, with the permission of the host country, took up patrol duties for the duration of the diplomatic visit in order to prevent any incursions that could possibly threaten Alexander or Sarah.…...As the Edenian visit was beginning, complete with all the pomp and circumstance surrounding high-level diplomatic missions, an entirely different atmosphere prevailed in the offices of the military leadership of China. They had received the debriefing notes on the short, but significant, encounter with the Edenian fighters near Taiwan and were scrambling to figure out exactly what had happened, and how. Their brand-new stealth interceptors had been... intercepted. And not only that, they were locked on by a targeting system from enemies th
Mansudae Assembly Hall, North Korea.“We’d like to see a reduction in your country’s aggression, President Kim. It’s making it very difficult for us to support you at the moment,” Alexander said once the diplomatic greetings were done and the small talk was over. It was time for the meat of the conversation.“Are you telling me what to do with my own things?” Kim Jong-Un growled.As the diplomatic translator struggled to come up with a polite translation for that, not knowing that Alexander was already hearing a real-time translation thanks to his glasses’ AI assistant, Kim Jong-Un continued under his breath, “Who do this guy think he is? He has no right to order us around.”He thought he was quiet enough that nobody would hear what he was muttering to himself, but it didn’t go unheard by the ears of the genetically enhanced Alexander, his “translator”—who was in actuality a Nyxian—or anyone else from the Edenian delegation for that matter, who all shared the genetic enhancements that
While the Edenian delegation was evacuating from the Mansudae Assembly Hall, an entirely different confrontation was in progress a few dozen nautical miles outside Namp’o.“Edenian vessels, this is the USS Ronald Regan. You are entering interdicted waters and I hereby order you to stand down for inspection. I repeat: stand down for inspection.” The Edenian task group continued steaming forward at a rather impressive speed, from the perspective of the American vessels between them and North Korea. “USS Ronald Reagan, this is the EV Sigurd. We are not a trade fleet and thus we’re not subject to your illegal trade interdiction of a sovereign nation in the first place. We’re currently on course for Namp’o, where we will be onboarding our diplomatic mission in light of the recent resumption of hostilities. Belay your order and get out of our way or there will be... trouble,” Home Admiral James Holbrook replied from the flag bridge of the Sigurd.......“It’s finally kicking off,” Aron sai